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2006 Congressional Elections Event

American Studies, Leipzig. 10 November 2006.

American Studies Leipzig in cooperation with the United States Consulate in Leipzig held an 2006 Congressional Elections Event on Wednesday, November 8th. Some 150 people from the Campus and the City of Leipzig came together to discuss what shaped the elections, and what the elections mean for the United States, both at home and abroad.

Mark Wenig from the U.S. Consulate observed that the victories for the Democrats will place new responsibilities on the party leadership, and that the issues facing America from taxes, social policies, and world affairs, all involve very complicated decisions. Hartmut Keil from the Institute for American Studies noted how Congressional elections typically focus on more local issues, but that this time national themes of foreign policy, the economy, and the contested nature of contemporary American politics all were key issues for the voters. The audience asked a lot of questions about how different sectors of society voted in the elections, what the elections will mean especially for American foreign policy, and what the results could mean for the Presidential Elections in 2008. The importance of the elections was underscored when, toward the conclusion of the event, various cell phones among the audience participants began to receive news alerts that Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had resigned as a result of election returns.